1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the removal of failed cold start devices, herein referred to as glow plugs from diesel engines. The invention is applicable in instances, e.g. where a glow plug has failed due to overheating and has caused the heating element of the glow plug to swell at or about the tip of the heating element. This failure would, under normal situations, necessitate the removal of the diesel engine's head assembly and associated hardware to facilitate the removal of a failed glow plug.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
We are not aware of any closely related prior art structures. Known prior art methods include the use of force to remove the failed glow plugs by applying a type of locking pliers to the exposed end of the glow plug, inserting a pry bar or large screwdriver between the locking pliers and the diesel engine head and attempting to forcefully extract the failed glow plug from the chamber. This is often unsuccessful and will usually result in the breakage of the glow plug's heating element. If the force used to extract the failed glow plug is uneven, the side load force applied to the glow plug will cause the heating element to snap off of the glow plug body and fall inside the diesel engine's head assembly thus necessitating the complete removal of the head assembly and all associated hardware.
Even if the aforementioned techniques were typically successful, performing these techniques is very difficult due to the crowded engine compartments on today's vehicles. A significant portion of the associated hardware surrounding the glow plug needs to be removed in order to accommodate the locking pliers and provide sufficient clearance in which to leverage the pry bar enough to apply adequate force to extract the failed glow plug.